The tiny kitten was found on farmland in Kingston about a fortnight ago — it is believed he was subject to a hawk attack, and then dropped by the bird from height.
Queenstown Cat Rescue volunteer Lydia McCarthy, of Kingston, said when she took him in he was emaciated, dehydrated and carrying some significant injuries, including a nasty abscess on his back.
Russell was taken straight to a vet, who was not hopeful he would even make it through that night.
He fought hard, though, and was released back into Ms McCarthy’s care, who quickly realised he had mobility and possibly neurological issues.
Unable to hold his head up, or stand on his own, Ms McCarthy took him back to the vet for another check-up, where they discovered he had a hernia in his diaphragm, which was stopping his lungs inflating properly, and it appeared as though he had damage to discs in his back.
"The vet on that day basically said ... maybe euthanasia is the way to go.
"He was improving gradually — tiny, tiny little increments — but every little bit is massive when they’re like that; it shows hope.
"[So] I pushed back a little bit against that ... I thought, ‘give him a chance’.
"He wasn’t in pain, he wasn’t in any distress and he was eating like a wee trooper."
Ms McCarthy said the vet reluctantly agreed to give her another few days with Russell, but wanted to see him standing up, with his head up, within days.
"Bless his little cotton socks, he was up on three legs in three days and holding his little head up."
Russell, now about eight and a-half-weeks old, was profoundly deaf, may have some limitations with his eyesight and was learning to be mobile on three and a-half legs, but had no movement in his left, front foot, though he could weight-bear on it.
"He uses it to balance and hobble, it’s not causing him pain ... it’s just not functioning."
It was likely Russell would need two surgeries, one to repair the hernia and another to likely amputate his leg, she said.
His vet bill was already well over $1000, and given the cost of his further treatment, including surgeries, the volunteer-run organisation had launched an online fundraiser, "Little Russell 1- Hawk -0", hoping to raise $5000 to help cover the costs.
Ms McCarthy jokes he would be a "gold-plated cat", which came with a built-in fighting attitude and massive personality, but she had no doubt he would soon be running on his three legs, ready to find his furever home.
